Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2852 in Books
• Published on: 2009-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 1032 pages

From Amazon.co.uk
From Antarctica to Zimbabwe, if you are going there chances are Lonely Planet has been there first. With a pithy and matter-of-fact writing style, these guides are guaranteed to calm the nerves of first-time world travellers, while still listing off-the-beaten-path finds sure to thrill even the most jaded globe-trotters. Lonely Planet has been perfecting its guidebooks for nearly 30 years and as a result, has experience and know-how similar to an older sibling's "been there" advice. The original backpacker's bible, the LP series has recently widened its reach. While still giving insights for the low-budget traveller, the books now list a wide range of accommodations and itineraries for those with less time than money.

Just as the authors describe China as "massive and endlessly fascinating", so is the material they have collected in this guide--an important travellers' opus. The 200-plus maps feature keys in English and Chinese script, there are essential details on transport options, a 12-page Chinese arts section, and a useful feature on the Chinese language. --Kathryn True

Customer Reviews

2005 Edition terribly out of date and misleading to boot
I have literally (yesterday) just left China after spending 2 months there using the latest Lonely Planet edition and really believe I would have had a much better time if I hadn't chosen this book. I appreciate that China is changing at an incredible rate, but much of the information is clearly up to 10 years out of date (2005 edition remember). The only changes from the previous edition appear to be different photos and a better map. Its not just that's its out of date though, it was also misleading in many cases. The supposedly best hostel in Guixhou province had a tap over a stinking bathtub for a shower and a toilet that did not flush (nice owners though)!

Other examples:

Lonely Planet: Dali in Kunming is the only place to get away and have a holiday from travelling.
Reality: You will be harassed every minute you walk down the street by traders and people trying to sell you Marijuana. It's a tourist Mecca for Chinese and foreigners alike.

Lonely Planet: Longsheng in Guanxi is the centre of a colourful mix of local Dong and Miao minority people.
Reality: The only colour you'll see is the pink lights advertising the ladies of the night that line the streets. It's a very modern city that would not have matched a description like that in the last 15-20 years. (Another recent guidebook we saw had a much more accurate description)

Another criticism is that the information on Tibet is sparse as they want to sell you their Tibet guide book (The latest Rough Guide to China had at least twice as much on Tibet). They also plug their Mandarin Phrase Book in the language section.

I appreciate you might think that this sounds like whinging, but I have been travelling for over 9 months now and used many guidebooks in that time. What I do not appreciate is publishers bringing out new editions with so little new or updated information. Their only motive is to sell more books.

I strongly suggest researching and comparing any travel guide book before you buy as you can't change it easily once you're away and certainly do not just go for Lonely Planet because they're the biggest.

LP China Guide
As someone who is doing a degree in Chinese and has just returned from China, having spent the past eleven months living there, I have to say this is the best travel guide available to help the backpacker find their way around. Between myself and my friends - who also lived in China for the same period of time - we had a cumulative collection of practically every single travel book written about China, and we came to refer to the Lonely Planet travel guide as 'The Bible' as it was so superior to the other travel guides we saw. That's not to say it is perfect - some things are have since gone out of date (Nothing new in China as things change so fast there), and it does stick to the tourist trail a little too much, but it is probably the most comprehensive of the guides I have seen. (However, going off the tourist trail is not so easy unless your Chinese is pretty good.) The Lonley Planet phrase book is also invaluable as it is clearly laid out and presented to the reader I could not have survived my first few months in China without it.

Fantastic country
A great general guide but watch out for a number of things.
1. Prices change at a phenomenal rate in China. We arrived in China with the older edition and two weeks later the new one came out. By that stage the price for accomodation and events as listed in the new guide had dramatically increased in some places by large amounts making it very hard to get around.
2. They say that you need to book travel days in advance and through hotels or CITC. In reality we rarely had problems getting tickets for sleepers even on the day of departure. If you are going to be in the town for less than three days buy your ticket before you leave the station if you can. CITC will charge you loads of commission although they did get us out of a jam accomodation wise in Datong at 10pm one night.
3. Buy the LP Chinese quide and use it rather than the useless guide in the book. My wife would copy out the characters in the book for the basics whenever we needed to buy train tickets and this usually got us through even in the most backward station.
4. Enjoy yourselves